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"Who would want to live downtown?"

Ray Gibbs, the former president of Downtown Greensboro Inc., used to hear that question a lot when he spoke to civic clubs and community groups.

Gibbs always had a ready answer: "Not everybody."

He would point out that most people in the Piedmont Triad still want to live in single family homes on their own lots.

They still enjoy cutting the grass, having picnics in the backyard and watching their flowers grow.

But Gibbs would point out that national research shows 2 percent to 4 percent of a city's population would like to live in an urban setting.

"My goal is 1 to 2 percent," Gibbs would say. "If we can get 2 percent of Greensboro's population to live downtown that would be 5,000 people."

To date, downtown Greensboro hasn't reached that residential goal.

Current estimates indicate there are between 700 and 800 households in downtown Greensboro. That's about 1,300 people.

"In my mind, that number could easily double in the next five years," said Don Jud, professor emeritus of finance at UNCG.

Since 1999, 275 residential units have been added downtown with 285 more under construction and several hundred more planned.

The housing development that has attracted the most attention in Greensboro is Center Pointe, the $37 million rehabilitation of the former Wachovia building on North Elm Street.

The project, scheduled to be completed in 2008, will include one- to three-bedroom units ranging from $182,000 to well over $500,000.

A collection of custom-designed units near the top of the 16-story building will cost from about $1 million to as much as $3 million. Those would be the most expensive ever in the center city.

Winston-Salem, too, soon will have its own high-end downtown units.

One Park Vista on Fourth Street will have 34 units ranging from $290,000 to just over $1 million.

Officials at Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership say they have seen 700 housing units built in the center city during the past five years.

Those spaces typically appeal to single- and double-income people with no children and to empty nesters. Those demographics typically prefer the social and cultural opportunities downtown, or they want to be near their work, or both.

"What we are finding is that downtown is becoming a legitimate submarket in the region," said Jason Thiel, president of the downtown partnership. "It cuts clear across the board."

Unlike its two larger neighbors, High Point has few housing opportunities downtown, primarily because the furniture market has taken up the available space.

"Downtown housing is in its experimental stage," said Charlotte Young, president and CEO of the High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It just hasn't had a chance to blossom yet."